Marvel-ous Monday: "Vira the She-Demon!" by Kirby and Royer

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! More kosmik Jack King Kirby from 2001: A Space Odyssey #2 (October 1977) with "Vira the She-Demon!" Kirby exploring the rise of civilization in his own unique and action-packed way looks better to me now than it did back in the Groovy Age! The parallel/second half of the story (set in the "future", natch) gets downright psychedelic, keeping in the spirit of the flick that inspired it. Many cringe at Jack's scripting, but lemme tell ya, his plotting and art here can't be beat--at least that's Ol' Groove's most humble opinion!

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Jim Starlin's Thanos In the Groovy Age

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! You knew that we were gonna wind up Thanos Week with a loving look back at Jim Starlin and company's cozmik covers featuring Thanos, right? Well, you know how Ol' Groove hates to disappoint, so here ya go!

Inks by Frank Giacoia

Inks by Pablo Marcos

Inks by Klaus Janson

Art by Ron Wilson and John Romita

Inks by Klaus Janson

Inks by Alan Weiss

Cover by Al Milgrom and Mike Esposito (probably?)

Many thanks, as always, to the Grand Comics Database for the far-out scans!

Thanos Week: Funny Stuff (?): "The Cat and the Cosmic Cube" by Sullivan, Siporin, and/or Salicrup, Mortimer, and Esposito

Behold, Thanos' shame, Groove-ophiles. Ol' Groove knows that you know, Groove-ophiles, that some humor is intentional and some is not (yers trooley proves that quite often here...). One has to wonder about stories like "The Cat and the Cosmic Cube" from Spidey Super Stories #39 (December 1978). Yeah, the mag was written for kids (young kids at that), but c'mon! Had writer(s) Nick Sullivan, Michael Siporin, and/or Jim Salicrup (we're not sure which one--or which combo--actually wrote this story) EVER read a comic with Thanos in it before they wrote this crazy comic? Thanos is in a helicopter (complete with his name stenciled on it) chasing The Cat (actually Patsy Walker, Hellcat, but that name was NOT going into a comic produced in conjunction with Children's Television Workshop, baby) who somehow has the Cosmic Cube (that's "Tesseract" to you young'uns) in her possession (is there a prequel to this story in another issue and I missed it somehow?). So surreal and silly--intentionally or not? You be the judge! Art by the regular SSS team of Win Mortimer and Mike Esposito...

Cover art by Al Milgrom (and Mike Esposito?)

Don't worry. Thanos gets his dignity back tomorrow, Groove-ophiles!

Thanos Week! Black and White Wednesday: Original Jim Starlin Thanos Art

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove has been scouring the interwebs to find samples of Jim Starlin's incredible Groovy Age Thanos art, and did I ever find some goodies! Inked by the likes of Al Milgrom, Dave Cockrum, Pablo Marcos, Joe Rubinstein, and more from issues of Iron Man (#55--Thanos' debut!), Captain Marvel, Warlock, Avengers Annual #7, and Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2. Are you ready for this?

Iron Man #55 (Mike Esposito inks)...

Captain Marvel #26 (Dave Cockrum inks)...

Captain Marvel #27 (Pablo Marcos inks)...

Captain Marvel #31 (Dan Green/Al Milgrom inks)...

Captain Marvel #33 (Klaus Janson inks)...

Warlock #9 (Steve Leialoha inks)...

Warlock #10 (Steve Leialoha inks)...

Warlock #15 (Jim Starlin inks)...

Avengers Annual #7 (Joe Rubinstein inks)...

Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2 (Joe Rubinstein inks)...

Yeah, I know. WOW!!

See you tomorrow with...Thanos' shame!